The present invention relates generally to elevator systems and, in particular, to an apparatus for illuminating the passenger space of an elevator car.
Equipment for illuminating the interior of an elevator promotes the safe boarding of the passenger space, the safe operation of the actuating controls for the destination floor selection, a pleasant stay in the passenger space during the trip and a safe leaving of the passenger space for the passengers.
An elevator car in which lamp holders are slidably mounted on tracks fixed to the roof of the car is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,210. The lamp holders are arranged for the reception of several illuminating tubes which tubes are concealed by a suspended ceiling including an exchangeable and translucent light diffusing shield. The ceiling has adjustable brackets such that the illuminating tubes can be horizontally adjusted and the ceiling can be vertically adjusted to change the illumination pattern on the shield, the illumination level in the passenger space and the light distribution in the passenger space.
A disadvantage of the above-described illumination equipment is that the translucent shield is not capable of distributing the light so as to provide a uniformly illuminated surface. A further disadvantage is that when exchanging a deflective illuminating tube, the shield panels which have a large surface area and can be damaged easily must be removed and leaned against a car wall or deposited on the car floor before the defective light source can be exchanged.